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Left bandh on petro price today

Activists of BJP staging a ‘rail roko’ at Berhampur railway station on Thursday.

BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Socialist Unity Centre of India held demonstrations at various locations against rise in fuel prices on Thursday, the Left parties announced to observe a State-wide bandh on the issue on Friday.

The BJP took the lead in staging a road block and rail roko agitations against the fuel price hike in several towns, and blamed the United Progressive Alliance Government for putting the common man to trouble.

Train and bus services were affected at some places as BJP activist squatted on major roads and rail tracks. Several trains were delayed owing to the rail roko by BJP workers at Berhampur and Cuttack stations.

The 2821/2822 Howrah-Bhubaneswar-Howrah Dhauli Super Fast Express was cancelled for the day from both directions. Besides, 8411 Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam Inter City Express was controlled at Brahmapur station for sometime in the morning. Similarly, 209 Dhenkanal-Puri Passenger was detained at Salegaon near Choudwar for about one-and-a-half-hours.

As regards the BJD, the party workers burnt effigies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and raised slogans against the UPA Government for hiking the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders in several towns.

In view of the dawn-to-dusk bandh call given by the Left parties, the State government said that all measures were being taken to prevent any untoward incident during the bandh hours.

Massive deployment of security forces was being made in and around major government offices, including the State Secretariat.

KORAPUT: Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged protests in Kotpad denouncing rise in prices of essential commodities and petroleum products. There was, however, no disruption to vehicular traffic.

PTI adds: Asking parties to refrain from taking political mileage from the fuel price hike, the Congress on Thursday asked the Orissa Government to exempt VAT (value added tax) on petroleum products.

“When states like Manipur, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat have already announced to exempt tax on petroleum products, the Orissa Government is silent on the issue,” Orissa Pradesh Congress Commitee president Jayadev Jena said.

Justifying the hike on the price of petrol, diesel and cooking gas, the State Congress chief said that price hike was unavoidable as the price of crude oil had increased manifold in the international market. “There is no other option left,” he said.

“As the State government claims to have made significant growth in terms of financial situation, there is no point in not exempting VAT on petroleum products in order to give relief to the people,” Mr. Jena said.

He said that the State government also had significant role in controlling prices of commodities.

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